Democrachain

Rethinking Blockchains and Internet of Things

Democrachain is an exploration of the implication of the blockchain technology and the Internet of Things in the context of household energy consumption. It is an air conditioning system that utilizes blockchain to empower the distributed autonomous organization to make the environmentally ethical decision for the owner of the air conditioner. Meanwhile, it raises issues about the blockchain democracy.

Context

‘The experience of seeing the web take off by the grassroots effort of thousands gives me tremendous hope that … we can collectively make our world what we want.’ – Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web

Two decades ago, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, wrote about his thoughts and vision on a decentralized Internet. However, the Internet today is dominated by giant search engine and social network such as Google and Facebook. As users, our personal data are constantly collected by these companies. Consequently, the Internet is heavily centralized and we are increasingly living in filter bubbles.

Blockchain technology, utilizing the decentralized and distributed digital ledger, promises a paradigm shift in many sectors such as healthcare, banking, music industry, etc. Many people claim that blockchain can empower people, revolutionize business, and create a more open and fair future. However, behind the hype, the development of blockchain seems to follow a similar pattern as the Web. Will blockchain technology bring freedom to everyone, or eventually become another tool of big corporations for social control?

Concept

The project looks into how blockchain and the Internet of Things can converge to evoke a different future in the energy space. More importantly, how blockchain can be used for democratization.